Monday, April 2, 2012

For the past few weeks I've been anxiously watching the weekend weather forecasts, fingers crossed for good weather. I've got multiple projects started and more that I'm itching to start. But a few days ago Charles politely suggested that perhaps I should finish a current project (or three) before I take on anything new. He's probably right - if because if there's such a thing as DIY-ADHD than I've definitely got it.

About a month ago I finally gave up on the blue paint in the kitchen. I had high hopes for it in the beginning, but after two years I had to admit it wasn't growing on me. It took several tries to find a new color for the room - the pale yellow in the picture to the left lasted only a few days before being painted over with a more tan/gray beige. Schwartz, by the way, loved having an 8 foot ladder in the kitchen.

Other recent interior projects included Cecilia's quilt - finished last weekend - and the living room baseboards. The latter project has been delayed by attempts to match the color of the new baseboard to the original walnut trim. A local paint store has graciously allowed me to take home various stains, and I'm getting closer but still not quite satisfied enough to finish the new baseboard.

Outside, I spent the first nice day this spring digging out a basement window on the north side of the house. The yard around the house was raised a foot by previous owners and the basements windows (at least the ones that were not filled in with concrete) were in desperate need of attention. We had temporarily dealt with this by blocking the windows with heavy foam board secured around the edges with expanding foam. Classy, I know. But the remaining north facing window is now dug out and ready to be rebuilt.

The first layer is topsoil added by a previous owner. The middle layer is concrete window well poured before the level of the yard was raised. Below is a closer view of the window opening. The window sill is completely gone and both sides are rotted beyond repair.

The window itself was salvageable and is currently resting in my mom's wood shop. I replaced several panes of broken glass, reglazed the window, and primed it. Cecilia put a first coat of paint on it tonight. Our masons left a bag of mortar, so as soon as I get more cooperative weather I'll tackle rebuilding the window sill.

In the meantime I've continued on the shed project. With help from Charles and my mom one of the doors built over the winter is now hung on the shed.

The bottom and inside edges of the door will be cut to size once the second door is hung, but I'm already so tickled with how this is looking.

And finally, one last project that's in the works. I've got my mom to thank for this again. Over the winter she rebuilt the sashes for the springhouse windows. They're in her workshop now (with the basement window) primed and ready for paint. But before I primed them mom brought them over to be sure they fit the springhouse. This is just a hint of what the finished windows should look like, but I'm pretty tickled with this as well.

Based on the forecast for this weekend hopefully I'll be able to share a bit more progress on these projects soon. : )

"When we build let us think we build forever. Let it not be for present delight nor for present use alone. Let is be such work that our descendants will thank us for, and let us think, as we lay stone upon stone, that a time is to come when these stones will be held sacred because our hands have touched them, and that men will say, as they look upon the labor and wrought substance of them, 'See! This our fathers did for us.'" ~John Ruskin (1819-1900)